Galway changes presidential nomination protocol after ‘dangerous ideologies’ heard last year
New rules have been established in Galway County Council for presidential hopefuls coming before the chamber in the election process.
Following unsatisfactory presentations from citizens seeking nomination last September for the recent presidential election, the Strategic Policy Committee have made amendments to the protocol.
Any potential candidate seeking the local authority’s nomination will now need to seek support from 10pc of councillors prior to attending the special meeting.
Additionally, to remain eligible, the potential nominee must attend the meeting in-person at Galway County Hall.
Only 20pc of the 25 names on the docket to seek nomination from the council showed up for the special meeting in September 2025.
When the new amendments were put to the elected members for a vote during the March plenary meeting, Councillor Karey McHugh Farag welcomed the new practice saying it was the councillors’ responsibility to “safeguard the integrity of the office.”
“There were dangerous ideologies coming to the fore, and people trying to hijack what it means to be the leader of the country,” she added. “We shouldn’t be facilitating that through the process.”
Additionally, she said potential nominees used the special meeting “as a soap box to spout rhetoric.”
It was Independent councilor Thomas Welby who proposed the new eligibility criteria to his chamber colleagues in November 2025 hoping it would curb the lack of confidence votes.
In order to be eligible for the Presidential election, a person must be nominated by 20 members of the Oireachtas or four local authorities. When a potential nominee brigns their presentation before the chamber, elected members can vote whether to proceed with a formal nomination or not.
Galway County Council chose not to make a nomination last year.